Meetings
by Heero De Fanel
Summary: Ash is wandering around Houen looking for a battle, when a trainer gladly accepts. Only this trainer has white hair, wears red and black and has a bandanna. It's an interesting meeting, to say the least.


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Meetings

**Legal Crap: I don't own Pokemon. Okay? Cool.**

The black haired trainer was annoyed. He had gone out to find a battle, and only found people who's sole interests involved talking. "HEY! Isn't there anybody who wants a battle?!" All he got in return were weird looks and murmurs about bad manners. Saying he was irate was an understatement. "Come on! Anyone? Even though we're in the Houen region, trainer battles shouldn't be this hard to come by! Anybody?"

"You forgot to say "please." The voice sounded about his age, but it lacked energy… it had the ring of boredom, and sardonic amusement. He turned around, and saw a boy with long whitish-silver hair held back by a headband. On his face was a small smirk, but it held no malice. The other boy was clad in red and black – Houen colors. His ice-blue eyes were narrowed in amusement. The black haired boy blinked.

"What?" he said, glaring at him. The smirk on the boy's face intensified.

"Why, not used to using polite words in a sentence?" he asked mockingly, staring at him. The white haired trainer paused. "Well, whatever. You want a battle, I'm happy to oblige." he said, pulling out a Pokeball. The black haired boy grinned.

"Now we're talking! What's your name?"

The other boy shot another smirk at him… but it was one of confidence, not disdain. The black haired trainer found himself starting to warm up to him a little. "Brendan."

"Ash." was the response. "Pikachu?" he asked his pokemon, who was already in position.

"Pika!" Brendan looked at it.

"Hmm… I can already tell that it's very strong. Looks like I get a challenge today. Surprise surprise." He pulled out a Pokeball, then tossed it to the ground. "Torchic!" The ball split, revealing a red chick Pokemon. "Ready?" Ash glared at him.

"Oh yeah. THUNDERSHOCK!" The Pikachu's cheeks lit up, before discharging an electric blast. Brendan looked at the oncoming attack, then nodded.

"Counter with Flamethrower, Torchic!" The resulting blast of flame countered the Thundershock, causing a rather large explosion. But before Ash could counter- "Now, attack with Firehawk!" Suddenly, the air around Torchic burst into flame, and the bird charged Pikachu, who was unable to dodge. The vicious tackle sent the mouse flying backwards.

"Pika!" Pikachu gasped out painfully. Ash looked worried.

"Pikachu!" Ash looked at Brendan. "What was that move? I've never seen it before!" Brendan waved a dismissive hand.

"I enjoy coming up with unique attacks for each of my Pokemon. It makes battle that much more interesting. Control of an element… say fire, in a beam or wave is usually quite easy; using it to enhance other attacks is more difficult, but also very handy. The Firehawk is a normal tackle; in conjunction with the flame, it did more damage than any Fire or Physical attack alone." Ash blinked at the longwinded explanation.

"Uh… come again?" Ask asked, looking confused. Brendan sighed.

"Fire plus Physical attacks equals pain." Brendan simplified, pointing toward Pikachu as an example. The electric mouse was standing ready again, looking a little singed but otherwise fine. Ash threw his hand into the air.

"YES! Looks like we're still in this!" Pikachu looked at it's trainer, nodding. Brendan looked surprised.

"It's still conscious… looks like I was right. It is powerful." Brendan commented. Ash's eyed flashed.

"You're definitely right about that, and I'm gonna make you regret it! Pikachu, use agility!" Pikachu's cheeks sparked, and it's movement suddenly increased by a large degree. Brendan's eyes narrowed. His Torchic was trying hard to keep up, but was having trouble doing so. As Pikachu got behind it- "Swift!" Torchic turned around – only to see Pikachu flying right at it. With a squawk of pain, it was sent flying. Brendan looked worried.

"Hey, Torchic! You all right?" he yelled. The bird looked at him, nodding. Brendan smirked. "Okay… time to get serious now. Torchic's a flying type, and Pikachu's electric. With Pikachu's power, a direct electrical attack would mean trouble. So, if I don't let electrical attacks have any effect… Torchic! Pyro Guard!"

Meanwhile, Ash had been listening to Brendan think aloud. "_Disable electric attacks? How would he…"_ then he heard Brendan give his order. "_Pyro Guard? Damn, looks like another custom technique…" _to Ash's surprise, however, the only change was that the air around Torchic got really wavy. Ash blinked. "That's it? That's the big move you came up with?" Brendan looked at him.

"Not much now, but try an electric move. You'll see why it's so effective… and why you're in trouble." he said calmly. Ash's eyes narrowed.

"Interesting! All right, then! Pikachu, THUNDERBOLT!" With a bright flash of light, Pikachu's cheeks sparked, and released a large bolt of electricity at Torchic. "Yeah! Looks like a direct hit – WHAT?!" To Ash's shock, the bolt was… not getting through. The air seemed to be blocking the electricity.

"Refraction. Superheating the air blocks certain attacks. A little trick I picked up from the Cinnibar Island Gym Leader." Brendan said calmly. Ash looked surprised.

"Blaine? If you've battled him, then you've… you've been to Kanto?" he asked. Brendan nodded in assent

"And Johto. Took a little trip to the Orange Archipelago as well, although I didn't stay there for very long." Brendan explained. "Why?"

Ash looked worried. "How many badges?"

Brendan shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really compete for badges." Ash's jaw dropped.

"What?! But, if you've battled Blaine-"

"I've battled many Gym Leaders, and won." Brendan stated. There was no arrogance; just pure statement of fact. "I just don't accept the badge." Upon seeing Ash's confused look, he went on. "I see no point in it. A badge certifies you as a skilled trainer, but to need a piece of metal to confirm your skills, or their growth… I just don't follow the League's measuring stick, that's all. Competing for badges… what's the point? Once you have eight, than it's the League, right?" Ash nodded. "But if you win… what next?"

"Well... you're a Pokemon Master then, aren't you?" Ash asked. Brendan laughed… then he realized Ash was serious.

"Pokemon Master… there's no such thing." Brendan said, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Wow, I should really get a haircut-"

"Wait a second! What do you mean there's no such thing as a Pokemon Master?!" Ash looked furious, and was not adverse to showing it. "It's my dream to become one!" Brendan shook his head.

"Okay… so once you're a Master, you're the best. You can't get better. You're the plateau that trainers aim for. You have so much skill in your possession that you can never improve, no matter how much you try. But you don't need to improve, because you're a _Master_." Brendan said, the sarcasm plainly evident. Ash's eyes narrowed. He'd had enough.

"That's it! I'm won't just stand here and let you put down the dreams of so many people just like that!" Ash yelled. Even Pikachu looked angry. "Pyro Guard or not, you're going down! Pikachu, THUNDER!" As the mouse's cheeks flashed, Brendan sighed.

"All right. Say you're a Master right now. I'm a challenger. Now, I'll show you why I have so much disdain for the so-called title." He looked toward his Pokemon.

"Torchic… finish it off." As the Thunder attack rushed toward the target, Brendan only had two words to say.

"Volcano Emission."

* * *

Ash looked nothing short of stunned. The blast of fire was gigantic- it had literally scorched the entire battlefield. Pikachu was lying face down, weakly breathing. Ash sighed, then walked over to it. 

"Buddy… you tried your best. That's all I could ask for…" Ash said, gently petting his Pokemon.

"Pika…" he said weakly. Brendan, who was standing a few feet away, spoke.

"Now do you see my point? No matter how good you think you are, you can always get better. If you use badges or the Pokemon League as a target, your skill will grow, but it will eventually stagnate." Brendan paused, as Ash processed this. "But if you use yourself as a plateau, your skill will keep growing. Surpassing yourself is possibly the most difficult thing for any trainer to do. But that's the only way to fully utilize one's potential." Brendan finished. "I'm sorry about the force of the attack…"

"Don't worry about it… but I think I understand your point. It's just kind of disappointing, knowing that my dream has been for nothing-" Ash began.

"It's not." Brendan said. Ash looked in surprise. "A Pokemon Master implies complete and total superiority as a trainer, but that's not possible. Skill will always grow, and using your dream to slowly draw out the skill, of both you and your Pokemon... it wasn't for nothing. I can say without a doubt that this was the best battle I've had." Brendan said sincerely. Ash smiled and nodded.

"Yeah… same here." He returned, extending his hand and shaking Brendan's. He looked over and saw Brendan's Torchic worriedly chirping around Pikachu. Ash laughed a little. "Don't worry Torchic… he'll be fine. Pikachu always recovers quickly." Ash stated looking at Brendan. "And when he does, expect a rematch." Ash challenged. Brendan smirked.

"Saa… yudan sezun ni ikou." Brendan said. Ash blinked.

"What?" Brendan waved his hand.

"Nevermind. Anyway, challenge accepted, but I hope you remember what I said." Ash nodded.

"I won't forget. We'll bring you down next time!"

"I wouldn't be surprised." Brendan said, picking up his bag. "But I have to get going. There's a Pokemon Center about 10 minutes away-"

"Wait! Why don't you come with me! You can meet my friends, Brock, Max May-"

"M-May?" Brendan asked, surprised. Ash nodded.

"Yeah. Her dad's the Petalburg Gym Leader. Why? You know her?"

* * *

_"Hey Brendan! Want to play?" a brown haired girl, no more than five, asked her friend. The white-haired boy smiled at her. _

"Sure." May smiled at him.

"Yay! Come on, you be it!" she asked, smiling at him.

"Aa…"

* * *

"…no. I don't know her." Brendan finally said, finally jolting himself out of his stupor. "Her name just sounded familiar, that's all." Ash nodded

"Ah. Anyway, I should get to the Pokemon Center… see you again! Remember, rematch!" Ash yelled, as he walked away. Brendan looked at his retreating back.

"…see you later, Ash. Take care… May…"

**Author's Notes: How was it? Okay? First off, "Saa, yudan sezun ni ikou" means "Let's not get careless now." It's one of Kunimitsu Tezuka's (Prince of Tennis) phrases, and I thought it fit quite well. As for all the custom moves, it's not unplausible that some trainers would come up with specialty maneuvers, so… And as for Brendan's stance on a Pokemon Master, I thought it would be an interesting POV for most people, seeing as how most Trainers want to be Pokemon Masters. And yes, Brendan and May do have a history… if I'm bored, I'll do a sequel to this. Till then, please R&R!**


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